Wednesday, June 27, 2018

Predicting the 2018 Trade Deadline: Jacob deGrom

Warning: This is the post that no fan of the New York
Yankees wants to read. This will scare you. You have been warned.

The New York Mets will listen to offers regarding three of
their top starting pitchers this summer including Noah Syndergaard, Steven Matz
and the right-hander that every team wants, Jacob deGrom. The Mets will certainly
listen to offers for any of their veterans, but the team can truly jumpstart a
rebuild by trading one or all of these starters, especially deGrom. Ultimately,
I believe deGrom will be traded before the end of the July 31st
trading deadline, and I believe the team that will acquire his services will
scare a lot of teams in the American League. Can you imagine how good the Houston
Astros will be once they acquire deGrom this summer?

I know, it sounds crazy that a team so rich in pitching
would be in the market for a pitcher at the trade deadline but hear me out.
This move is a multi-headed monster for the Astros, hypothetically. First and
foremost, the Astros know that they will at least have a tough time bringing
Dallas Keuchel back via the free agent market after the 2018 season. Keuchel is
set to hit free agency before his age-31 season while deGrom’s earliest free
agent year is the year 2021. Acquiring deGrom now allows the team to let
Keuchel walk via free agency after the season while still keeping a cost-controlled
and strong starting pitching staff for 2019 and beyond.

The deal could also open up an avenue where the Astros could
at least consider trading Keuchel, but another reason the team “needs” deGrom
is because Keuchel has not been the dominant force that he has been in the
past. Keuchel is pitching to a 4-8 record with a 3.90 ERA at the time of this
writing with 97 innings pitched and just 77 strikeouts. That’s great for some
teams to be completely honest, but Houston may look to upgrade to hold off the
New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox.

Speaking of the two mammoth giants in the American League
East, that alone could be worth the Astros acquiring deGrom just to keep him
away from either of those two teams. Obviously, the Astros wouldn’t acquire
deGrom for that sole reason, but the fact that he checks so many other boxes
while keeping him away from their biggest competitors in the postseason is just
too convenient and obvious to ignore.

The Astros have a strong farm system and a young team meaning
they have the pieces to make such a deal work with the Mets. The Astros also
have, for lack of a better term, a need for deGrom as well, so watch out for
Houston if and when the Mets truly make their right-handed ace available this
summer.